


A Victorian Household... Almost

by Wordgal



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-01 07:48:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2765339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wordgal/pseuds/Wordgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story of undetermined length, about the beginning of the Paternoster gang, Jenny and Vastra's meeting, the adventures that follow (canon and non-canon), their relationship, and anything else about them that catches my fancy. (Can I interest you in some high-powered lasers or an acid grenade, boy?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Old Friends and New

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw/gifts).



> This is the first part of the story, where Vastra and the Doctor find Jenny, and how Vastra originally began helping humans- albeit grudgingly.  
> I'll try to keep this as historically accurate as possible, despite the characters' anachronistic acquaintances, although I may not always include references to my research.  
> Obviously, I did not invent Vastra, Jenny or the Doctor (don't I wish). They belong to the BBC.  
> And thanks to Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw for currently the best Jenny/ Vastra fanfic I've read (go read it, I promise you won't be disappointed) and the inspiration to start my own.

Jenny was cold. That was all she was sure of, all she had been sure of for a very long time, really. Somewhere deep inside she knew she wasn’t safe, and she knew she hadn’t eaten in a very long time, but she didn’t really care; she hadn’t been hungry is a long time either. The cold of the cobblestones seeped through the thin, tattered barrier of her worn clothing, and into her bones. Distantly, she realised that it should bother her, or cause her some discomfort, but somehow it didn’t. She could barely feel the rough stone against her cheek as she lay down, huddled as far into the corner between a building and the street as she could be. She heard voices and, with no energy for anything else, she listened to them, as though they were an anchor to the reality she could feel slipping away from her.

“So you see,” a man’s voice, “they’re everywhere. All through the universe, and in every time, even here, there are races trying to wipe out humanity.”

“Why should I care?” A woman’s voice, too, with strangely emphasised w’s. Not a woman’s voice, a lady’s, Jenny corrected herself. She spoke too clearly and carefully to be anything less.

“That’s why I took you with me. To show you the threat. And you know where they end up, scattered across the universe-”

“Like vermin,” the lady interrupted.

“No, not like vermin at all.” Jenny wondered if the man was getting angry, but she couldn’t really tell. She had no idea what they were talking about, and what she could hear reached her as though she was at the bottom of a very deep well, hearing echoes rather than clear voices. At the end of the street, she saw two figures round the corner, and realised that belonged to the two speakers.

“They are a race of great potential, even matching your own. A younger race, yes, but given the same time that Silurians had to develop, they might surprise you with how far they go. One day they will colonise the universe. But only if I can keep them safe. You could help me.”

Neither of them noticed Jenny as they walked towards her. Why would they? She was just another of London’s many homeless, poor, starving children.

“It’s your choice,” the man continued, “Of course it’s your choice. I could take you back in time, drop you off among your own people, and you’d not have to witness what happened again. It would still happen, though. Or I could take you anywhere else on this world or another. One day in the future, your people will wake again, and they will share the planet with its current inhabitants. But only if the planet is still here to be shared. You’ve done enough damage here. If you choose to stay, do what I do, what I’ve always done, to atone for what I did to Gallifrey and my people all those years ago. Help them.” The urgency in those last two words surprised Jenny. They surprised the man’s companion too, she could tell.

“And my people will rise again?”

“And be stronger than ever before,” the man agreed. They paused for a moment, and the woman seemed to decide something.

“You have taught me of their society, of how to fit in. I will stay here. I will help,” she said, her words carefully measured. The man seemed to burst with excitement, bouncing up and down on his toes before catching himself, and trying to act proper again.

“Splendid!” He burst forth in a babble of excitement, but Jenny was too tired to listen anymore. They didn’t see her as they passed, hidden in shadow as she was, but the woman’s dress stirred up the dust, and she coughed weakly. Both figures jumped, surprised. Jenny tried to apologise for disturbing them, but found she didn’t have the strength. The man knelt down beside her, and waved a shiny stick in her face. The light hurt Jenny’s eyes, but she knew if she closed them she wouldn’t have the energy to open them again.

She wouldn’t have cared, living on the streets wasn’t exactly the height of luxury, but there were worse places to be, and she wouldn’t let herself be taken to them. She was a child of London, she knew how to defend herself, at least a little. Realistically she knew she wasn’t a match for a grown man, not even one as skinny and lanky as the one who was peering into her face, not anymore. But she wouldn’t go down without a fight. He was a toff, anyway, he couldn’t be too strong. Then the man sighed, like Jenny made him sad, and he stood up, apparently disinterested. Jenny blinked in surprise.

“Well?” She wasn’t sure who he was asking, her or the woman, or what the question was.

“What?” The woman with him made a strange hissing sound.

“You don’t have to start until you’re ready, of course. But if you don’t…” The man shrugged. His companion hissed again, and then sighed like she was going to do something she’d regret.

“I don’t suppose one little ape will hurt,” she muttered, and bent to pick Jenny up. She was much stronger than Jenny had imagined any woman could be, at least one who didn’t have to work to keep herself. Her head lolled, like her neck didn’t have the energy to keep it upright, so she couldn’t get a good look at the faces of either of her… saviours? Captors? She wasn’t sure, and she wouldn’t have seen much anyway; colours were blurring across her vision and they wouldn’t condense into one image. Then there weren’t even colours anymore, just darkness, and Jenny passed out.


	2. An Interesting Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenny wakes to find herself apparently under the protection of two very strange characters. The Doctor, who seems to find great amusement in everything he does, and Madame Vastra, who seems to find great confusion, instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- You'll find that I'm taking some liberties with the story, as the owner of 13 Paternoster Row is, in fact, Jenny, who is left it by her parents (who are of Royal Descent) when she chooses Vastra over them. At least, that's what the Tardis Data Core says. For the purpose of this story, I would prefer Jenny to have grown up poor, and Vastra to be installed in the house by the Doctor before he leaves her to continue on his adventures.

Jenny woke up… somewhere. She wasn’t sure where, but she thought maybe she was on a bed, at least. It was surprisingly soft. Quickly sensing other people in the room with her, she kept her eyes closed, hoping to find out more about her surroundings before she had to deal with them. If she had to fight her way out, then at least she’d have the element of surprise.

“I agreed to help, but I do not know what to do. What is wrong with her?”

Recognising the voice, Jenny had to fight down her curiosity, desperate to finally see the face of the woman from the alley.

“Many things,” the other man said.

“Doctor, can you not give a simple answer, for once?”

A doctor? Jenny was surprised, and a little concerned. A doctor might tell the police, and the police might try to find her family, and her family… Jenny stopped herself quickly.

“She’s ill, she’s half-starved, and she’s been out in the cold for far too long.”

“But they’re warm-blooded, homoeothermic. They’re able to maintain their own body temperature,” the woman interrupted. Jenny had no idea what homoeothermic was supposed to mean, or why she was ‘they’ and the woman wasn’t, but she was the first to admit that her scant six years of education hadn’t equipped her with many big words. Very few people continued their education past the age of twelve, and certainly not girls from families such as her own.

“Well, they don’t take the cold as badly as you do, Vastra,” the man said, clearly amused. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful, especially after prolonged exposure. Hopefully, she has nothing more than a cold, and should be well again after a few days,” he finished cheerfully.

“But what do I do?” The woman (Vastra? What sort of a name was that?) interrupted, exasperated by the doctor’s verbose answers.

“Keep her warm, fed, and let her rest. And maybe try to find out if she has any family-”

“No!” Jenny’s eyes flew open and she sat up so fast that for a moment she was blinded by the world spinning around her. As it settled down into a semblance of normalcy, she repeated herself. “No, please don’t. I’ll just go now, I’m okay, honest!” She made a move to get up, and the doctor leapt forward, flashing the weird light at her again. This time, Jenny slapped it out of her face.

“Ha, look at that. Ready to defend yourself already, wonderful,” he said with delight, after a brief look at his strange instrument. “Ah yes, you’ll be fine in no time!” Then his face seemed to cloud over. “Why don’t you want your family?”

Jenny tilted her head up and stuck her chin out, trying to look brave. “My family is no concern of yours,” she said. “And I can’t pay you for looking after me, so you’d better let me go now.”

“Why would you think I want payment?”

“You’re a doctor, are you not?”

“I am not _A_ doctor,” he exclaimed, indignant. “I’m _THE_ Doctor.” Jenny looked quizzical.

“There’s more than just one doctor in the world, you’re not the only one,” she protested. She’d temporarily forgotten about the woman, who stood off to one side, wearing a black veil the completely obscured her face. She was quickly reminded of her presence, however, when she made another hissing sound, different from the one she’d made in the alley. Jenny would have said she was trying not to laugh, except that of course people didn’t hiss when they were amused. The Doctor eyed them both with a certain amount of outrage.

“Let’s start again, shall we? Hello, I’m the Doctor. This is Madame Vastra. Who are you?” His blunt questions and brisk tone revealed his embarrassment, which provoked another amused hiss from the veiled woman. Jenny wondered why she would be wearing her veil indoors. Was it possible than the man wasn’t her partner? Maybe she was in mourning.

“I’m Jenny,” she said cautiously. “Jenny Flint.”

“Well then, Jenny Flint-“ the Doctor began, just before he was cut off by a surprisingly loud rumbling sound. He blink in surprise, and Jenny blushed.

“Sorry,” she cringed. She may have forgotten about eating, but her body certainly hadn’t.

“Food! Madame Vastra, we need to feed her!”

“I could catch-”

“No, no, no catching. Human food!” he chastised her gently.

“What do they eat?!” The Doctor blinked in surprise again, then tried to take her elbow and lead her form the room, presumably for a more private discussion. Madame Vastra yanked her arm from his grasp, but followed him nonetheless.

Jenny sighed. While she was warm under the copious blankets heaped on the bed, she’d already decided life on the streets was far more simple than it was in the houses of the rich. Who where these people? The overly enthusiastic Doctor, and Madame Vastra, who didn’t even seem to know what food was? And how long did she have to stay among them? She was grateful for a night of warmth, and hopeful that they might indeed feed her, but she didn’t fancy trusting anyone but herself, and certainly not since her recent experiences… She’d just have to explain politely that she was grateful but didn’t need their help, and then- if they tried to keep her- she’d have to run like the clappers and escape. She’d had plenty of experience running, of late. Life hadn’t been kind to her, but she reckoned if there was one thing she could count on, it was her ability to run. She sat in silence for a moment, and then shook her head, as if to clear it of any lingering unpleasant thoughts. She wanted to sit in a defensive position and wait until something happened, but- almost against her will- she realised that she didn’t really think her unlikely hosts were going to kill her in her sleep. And without her fear, Jenny was just a very young, very tired girl, in a very comfortable bed. That’s never a good combination for promoting vigilance.

Jenny woke again to the sensation of a surprisingly cool, gloved hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes to Madame Vastra’s veil, but behind it she could just make out the glimmer of her eyes.

“I brought… food,” she said quietly, and as Jenny pushed herself upright again she was handed a bowl of stew. She wasn’t sure which she found more pleasant, it’s warmth, or the fact that it was actual food. She’d spent longer than she’d like without either. As she eagerly began to spoon it into her mouth, almost to fast to chew it before swallowing, the Doctor appeared in the doorway, and leant against the doorframe, watching her with a ridiculous look of mischievous satisfaction on his face.

“Careful with that, eat too fast and you’ll make yourself sick,” he grinned. Jenny stopped abruptly, a small trickle of broth running down her chin. She shrugged guilty.

“I’m hungry,” she admitted.

“Yes, you’d have to be, to eat Madame Vastra’s food so eagerly. But then, there aren’t that many ways you can go wrong with meat, potatoes and various other assorted vegetables, I suppose.” He winked cheekily at Madame Vastra as he said it, and she hissed at him. Jenny was beginning to be able to differentiate between a hiss of indignation and one of amusement. Still, the sound unnerved her. Then she remembered that she had a bowl of actual food in her hands, and for a moment nothing else mattered.

“Now then,” the Doctor said, when she was finished. “I believe you were in the middle of explaining who you are and why you’re apparently hiding from your family.”

“I was doing no such thing,” Jenny objected, at the same time as Madame Vastra said that the Doctor ought to know that there were some things in which he mustn’t meddle, family matters being among them. Jenny was surprised to find the mysterious woman in agreement with her, and from the way the lady shook her head, she was too.

“Well fancy that,” the Doctor grinned. “You two just agreed with each other, and you don’t even know one another yet. I wonder… Jenny, have you had any training?”

“Of course, sir. A girl’s got to earn her keep! Although it’s been difficult recently,” she said, her initial eagerness to assure him of her use turning to trepidation.

“Well, that’s marvellous. Once you’re well again-”

“I’m already well Doctor, thank you,” Jenny said, clearly lying, as she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep.

“Nonsense. You are almost as thin as he is, and that is not a good thing,” Madame Vastra interjected. Jenny barely stifled a laugh, and had the feeling that, if she’d not been wearing a veil, Vastra and herself would have shared a conspiratorial look.

“Hey!” The Doctor protested. “I’ll have you know a good many women and a certain captain think I’m very handsome, thank you.” Madame Vastra made a sound that- thankfully- involved no hissing, and very clearly revealed that she was not impressed.

“As I was saying,” he continued, regaining himself, “Once you’ve put some meat back on your bones, warmed up properly and are healthy again- and don’t say you are because the sonic says otherwise- but once you are, you can repay your debt to Madame Vastra by working for her as a maid. You’d be paid of course, but-”

Madame Vastra interrupted him, loudly declaring that she had no desire to share her house with anyone else, and Jenny silently agreed. On the one hand, she desperately needed employment, and would gladly have worked for anyone. On the other, she’d recently had a very bad experience with her previous mistress, and wasn’t sure she wouldn’t prefer the streets to a repeat of that. Madame Vastra’s insistence on a veil within the confines of her own home didn’t bode well. Then again, neither did the encroaching cold…

She stifled a yawn, and turned her attention back to the ensuing argument, where the Doctor was protesting that having just moved into a new home she would need help, and Jenny seemed a perfectly sensible young woman and-

“I have references, ma’am, if that would help,” she interjected gently, deciding that anything was better than spending the entire winter out in the cold. Both the Doctor and Madame Vastra paused.

“Are you not afraid, Jenny Flint,” Madame Vastra asked. “I am a strange woman, living alone in a large house with no other servants. Does this not frighten you?” Madame Vastra sounded almost as though she wanted her to be frightened, so Jenny nodded dubiously. She was, after all.

“To be sure, ma’am, I am that, but not of you. I’m frightened of spending the winter on the streets, of sleeping in the snow and having nothing to eat for days on end. I might be wary of having a mistress I’d never heard of before, and who will not show her face, if it was not my best chance of surviving the coming months. But I’m a hard worker, honest I am, and my references are good!” Jenny stopped herself, seeing the Doctor’s face alight with curiosity.

“She practically just told you to be afraid, and you still want the job? Jenny Flint, you’re either very brave, or very foolish.”

“P’rhaps a bit of both, sir,” she ventured, with half a smile. Madame Vastra laughed. Granted, she stopped very abruptly, almost angry at herself, but it was a real, hiss-less laugh. She looked at Jenny for a while, and Jenny resisted the urge to squirm.

“As you shall clearly be in my home for a while, perhaps it would be wise to have you remain here, in my employ, once you are recovered.” Jenny broke into a huge smile at that, but Madame Vastra held up a gloved hand and gave her pause, first. “However, I must know, why were you dismissed from your previous place of employ?” Jenny frowned nervously.

“If you please, ma’am, I… It was a personal reason,” she said nervously.

“I would know it nonetheless,” Madame Vastra insisted. Jenny looked desperate, but she was far too tired to come up with a proper lie.

“The Housekeeper caught me kissing the scullery maid, ma’am,” she muttered, turned bright red, and stared intently at the bedspread. She was waiting for the disgust, the outrage, maybe even the loud declaration that she needed to repent of her sins at once. She wasn’t expecting the silence. She looked up to find Vastra watching her with her head tilted to one side, as though confused, and the Doctor watching Vastra, waiting for her reaction. Eventually, Jenny felt the need to break the silence.

“Aren’t you going to… I don’t know, throw me out or something?”

“Whatever for?” Vastra sounded very surprised. “I assume the Housekeeper’s problem was that you were involved with someone below your station, which is no concern of mine.”

Jenny gawped at Vastra, and the Doctor looked like he couldn’t believe Vastra hadn’t figured it out, even though he knew who she was.

“I surmise, from your expressions, that was not the issue?” she asked drily.

“She’s a girl, ma’am,” Jenny said, as though Vastra hadn’t realised that. A few months past, it would have been very likely, but the Doctor had taught her to differentiate between male and female, and indeed between most people. Vastra shot him a look, clearly asking for enlightenment, and he sighed.

“Ah… Perhaps we should allow Miss Flint some rest, before pursuing this conversation further,” he stammered. Jenny still looked flummoxed at Vastra’s failure to understand, and wasn’t comfortable with delaying what she was sure was the inevitable: at the very least being turned out again (at the worst, being told, as the priest had put it, that she was damned for all eternity). Knowing Madame Vastra would have nothing to say on the matter, she asked the Doctor if she couldn’t leave before Madame Vastra figured it out, so as to avoid the shame. The Doctor, to her surprise, smiled at her gently.

“I think you will find, Jenny, that Vastra will have very little issue with your choice in companionship,” he said gently. Vastra, though still mystified as to the reason for Jenny’s dismissal, nodded to back up the Doctor’s words. Jenny could hardly believe it, and wondered id perhaps they were both mad, but the Doctor was already ushering Madame Vastra out of the room and instructing Jenny to get some rest. She didn’t seem to have much choice in the matter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope no one is offended by my feeble attempt to tackle Victorian views on homosexuality, albeit briefly. I hope to expound upon it better in the next chapter, and show both the Doctor's and Vastra's thoughts on the whole ridiculous matter, thanks to their more rational views.  
> As before, thank you so much for reading, and please do let me know what you think. A comment or even a kudos would mean so much to me!  
> And if you've any ideas or prompts of something you'd like to see, do leave them here :-)


	3. Four Rather Rainy Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor explains Victorian ideas about homosexuality, Jenny slowly gets better, and Madame Vastra asks her to stay on as her maid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I am taking liberties with the story. I'll try to represent the characters accurately, as they're not my own, but I have reshuffled or glossed over certain elements of their past (for instance, as I've mentioned, Jenny wasn't ever actually poor) for the purposes of the story I want to tell.

It wasn’t until the next day, when the Doctor and Madame Vastra were having afternoon tea in the drawing room, that he felt comfortable enough to try and explain.

“So… About Jenny losing her previous job,” he began, still somewhat awkward. Madame Vastra nodded to let him know she was listening, although she was more interested in her tea than whatever it was he had to say. “It’s not about the maid’s station, like you said.”

“Well, I had rather gathered that much, from your reaction,” she said dryly.

“It’s because she’s… well, a she,” he shrugged. Madame Vastra frowned.

“And is this society so primitive as to prohibit women from having romantic relationships?”

“No, not entirely. Just… not with each other,” the Doctor said. Madame Vastra’s scowl deepened, so that her forehead was creased despite her scales struggling to stay smooth.

“But that’s ridiculous!”

“Well, it’s worse for men, it’s illegal for them. I don’t suppose the lawmakers considered that women might also show interest in their own sex.” The difficult part of the explaining over, the Doctor sat back in his chair, far more comfortable.

“But,” Madame Vastra spluttered, and then seemed unable to come up with any further objections other than the fact that it was, as she had already said, ridiculous. “Does it really matter? Are there not enough apes on this planet that they can forego reproduction if they wish?”

The Doctor laughed, then thought better of it and adopted a reproachful tone. “Humans, Vastra, not apes. And it’s not about the reproduction. Their religion says it’s wrong. In the future it stops being important, but it gets worse first. They’ve yet to make it illegal for women, and stubborn people have yet to take to the streets to protest against equality between people regardless of who they want to love.”

“They protest _against_ equality?”

“Oh yes,” the Doctor said. “Because they don’t bother to think it through properly and realise there’s no logical reason to object.”

“Then they _are_ apes. In this matter at least, they have not evolved beyond being animals. Love is… not prescriptive. What or who one person loves does not necessarily apply to each one of his fellows. And you cannot restrict emotion.”

“Ah, Vastra, you’re starting to sound like a philosopher. You’re right though, humans aren’t nearly as advanced as Silurians. They will be, given time. I showed you, didn’t I? In the Tardis, I showed you mankind spread out among the stars. But for now, they’ve not even considered it properly. It disturbs and confuses them, physical attraction to one’s own sex.”

“What about emotional attraction?”

“Ever heard of friendship?”

“Nothing further?”

“They don’t allow themselves anything further,” the Doctor shrugged. Madame Vastra though about the little ape upstairs in her bed, then, and wondered at her courage. Enough that she would not hide her desires, and enough to confess them, act on them… Enough to tell her- a near stranger- that her dismissal was as a result of them. Maybe, maybe even enough to not be afraid of scales and green skin. Maybe. Although it still bothered her than anyone should be prohibited from loving freely, she knew she could hardly change that, even if she were to break into the palace and eat the queen (not that she expected the queen would taste very good).

“I cannot employ her and be forced to wear my veil in private as well as for the benefit of the ignorant apes in the street.”

“Humans, Vastra. They’re not apes. I can take you to the zoo and show you apes, you’ll find that there is a very large difference. And of course, you’ll have to remove your veil for her.”

“I cannot let her leave once she has seen my face. It may wreck all, if word gets out,” she said flatly. It was all well and good posing as the rich, foreign widow, so long as there weren’t rumours flying around…

“You can’t keep her against her will!” The Doctor wasn’t at all pleased, but neither was Madame Vastra. She could just as happily have left the little ape to die in the streets, as oppose to facing the hostility she had first encountered, before donning the veil and her mysterious persona. She told the Doctor as much, as well.

It was all well and good that initially her face had been her meal ticket- even performing in a circus was better than roaming the underground. But she wasn’t a showpiece, and she had disliked being gawped at just as much as the Doctor had said she should. Although she would never admit it within his hearing, she would forever be grateful to him for taking her from being a glorified display piece and suggesting she attempt to adapt to Victorian society.

Of course, a few short months showed both of them she was quite unable to do so without help, which was what had prompted the Doctor to whisk her away in his Tardis and show her the stars, and the progression of humanity, and to teach her how to fit in among them. He’d done a remarkable job, and Vastra still surprised herself occasionally with her ability to differentiate between different _humans_ , when she saw them in the streets. The Doctor had only recently returned her to London and offered her the house they were in when they’d encountered Jenny in the streets.

Eventually, the Doctor suggested that she wait until Jenny was fully recovered before considering removing the veil in her presence. The last thing either of them wanted was to terrify the girl out of her wits (Vastra didn’t really care, but the Doctor impressed on her that she should, so she made an attempt to appear concerned at the prospect). Once he deemed the girl healed, Vastra could lay out whatever terms she wanted for the girl’s employment and- if she accepted- then she would show her why she lived so very alone. And why she was almost incapable of looking after herself. Vastra agreed grudgingly, which pleased to Doctor immensely.

Then, promising to return within the week, he announced that he had an investigation of pressing importance in future London, and disappeared with the Tardis. Vastra wasn’t sure if she was relieved or annoyed.

Four days passed without incident, as Jenny allowed herself to be fed and enjoyed the novelty of being able to hide under a mountain of blankets and pretend the world wasn’t outside, waiting for her. It rained every day, and while the weather made Madame Vastra hiss at the windows and she was irritable with almost everything, Jenny was just grateful not to be out in it.

She asked once where the Doctor had gone, and Vastra muttered something incomprehensible about still being in London but further forward, and Jenny had to shrug and let the matter go. She didn’t dare ask if he’d explained about her kissing a girl. She wasn’t sure what there was to explain, anyway. It was wrong, she’d liked it a lot more than when she kissed the boy who blacked the master’s boots, and she’d lost her job for it. She hadn’t been home since either, for fear of what her family might say if they found out. They’d certainly not gone looking for her. With her gone, it was just one less hungry mouth to feed, and without her job she couldn’t contribute to their funds, either.

Her thoughts and the all-consuming desire to sleep and savour the warmth of Madame Vastra’s home were enough to occupy her for the first four days. On the fifth day, however, she woke early, and couldn’t convince herself to go back to sleep. Suddenly, she was wide awake and restless. Half an hour later, when Madame Vastra went to check on her, she found Jenny pacing the room, wrapped in half the blankets off the bed.

“What are you doing up?!”

“Can I leave now?”

“Of course not,” Madame Vastra hissed- Jenny guess nervously, although she wasn’t sure- and tried to usher Jenny back onto the bed. Jenny allowed herself to be bundled up again, but she wasn’t happy about it.

“Am I a prisoner, then?”

“No, but I can’t let you go until the Doctor says you’re well enough for me to. Are you sure you feel well?”

“Well enough not to waste the rest of the day sleeping, yes,” Jenny affirmed. “Do you have any jobs that need doing?” Madame Vastra, however, having just moved into her new home, was quite set.

Knowing the Doctor hadn’t said he’d return for another three days- and deciding she’d rather not keep an impatient ape for that time- she decided she may as well lay out her proposed terms for Jenny’s employment. She first made the girl promise not to interrupt, and then laid forth her intentions: she would pay Jenny £25 per annum (Jenny made a mental note to tell her that it was far too much for a chambermaid), allow her to go to church or visit her family on Sundays if she wished (Jenny was fairly certain she wouldn’t want to do either of those things), she would be kept at board and bed, and in return Jenny would cook, clean, and help guide Madame Vastra through social interactions. Jenny wasn’t sure why Madame Vastra would need help in society, but then she remembered her confusion both to as what she should feed Jenny, and her dismissal from her previous position, and thought perhaps it was good that Madame Vastra knew she would need help.

“There is one more thing you must know,” she said, cautiously, feeling nervous for the first time in several million years. She didn’t appreciate the feeling. “But first, I must know what you say to my terms.”

“Why?”

“I must show you what lies beneath my veil. But once I have done so, I cannot merely let you leave.” _You wouldn’t be the first girl I’ve eaten_ she added mentally. Jenny nodded slowly, clearly weighing up the decision.

“£25 is far too much.”

“It is what I deem fair,” Madame Vastra answered coolly.

“I’d gladly work for you then, ma’am. Especially after you’ve looked after me these past few days. I couldn’t hope for better conditions anywhere else, and it beats a winter out there,” Jenny said, nodding towards the window, where the rain was still falling steadily. Vastra nodded, warily, and slowly removed her veil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for still reading it! :-) Again, if you've anything you'd like to see, just leave a comment. You continued support is very encouraging in this venture :-P


	4. The Alien, the Lizard and the Human Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra reveals herself to Jenny, the Doctor manages to turn up and make things worse, and Jenny isn't at all sure she can handle the strangeness.

Jenny found herself looking into a surprisingly human face. Well, human in one regard, seeing as it featured two eyes, one nose, a regular mouth with lips… But very inhuman in that it was completely green, and not just green skin: green scales. Jenny knew she was supposed to say something, but she was far too stunned to come up with even a single word.

Was she shocked? She wasn’t sure. Certainly, she’d hardly expected Madame Vastra to be… what was she, exactly? But then, shock didn’t quite seem the right word. Maybe fascinated? But then that didn’t convey the acute discomfort she felt, not necessarily because of the strangeness of Madame Vastra’s appearance as because of the fact that it had caught her completely off guard. Jenny did not like being surprised. That was the word, surprised. Not pleasant, but not necessarily unpleasant, either. Just… different. Unusual and new, and she wasn’t ready to decide what she thought just yet.

Vastra watched her patiently for a few minutes, and then sighed. Clearly, the ape was not comfortable with her appearance.

“I suppose I should just eat you,” she said. Jenny’s jaw dropped.

“What?!”

“Well, granted, you’re a bit skinny to provide any substantial nourishment, but you’d likely make a tasty snack.”

“Oh, you meant eat me like, for dinner,” Jenny said, and even Vastra could detect the immense relief in her voice, which confused her. Why would the ape feel at all reassured at the prospect of being devoured?

“Yes, of course. What other way could I possibly have meant?”

“Never mind,” Jenny blushed furiously, but Vastra had no idea what it meant when humans turned red, which was probably lucky. “You eat people. Okay. Why do you think you should eat me?”

Vastra was more than a little confused that Jenny seemed curious rather than afraid.

“Well, I can’t let you go telling people that the mysterious Madame Vastra is in fact closely related to lizards, can I?”

“You’re a lizard?”

“Do I look like a mammal to you?!” Vastra was getting annoyed, because people were a lot easier to deal with when they screamed and tried to run, or called her a monster, or anything really other than asking obvious questions and seeming entirely unperturbed.

“Well, no, I suppose not,” Jenny amended. “But… Well, I can hardly be your maid if I’m making my way through your digestive system, can I?”

Madame Vastra blinked, and then smiled widely. The little ape… No, perhaps she would deign to call her a mammal, at least. The little mammal wasn’t afraid of her. If she wasn’t mistaken, she’d even attempted a joke, though admittedly a feeble one.

“You’ll… you still want to stay?”

“Why not? You haven’t eaten me so far. Thank you for that, by the way. And you saved me from spending these past days out in the endless rain… Well, really, you saved my life, you and the Doctor. I am beholden to you,” Jenny said casually, but her gratitude was sincere.

“But... you’re not afraid?” Madame Vastra couldn’t seem to wrap her mind around it.

“Should I be?”

“No. No, I suppose not,” she said at last, and realised it was true. She posed no threat to the girl. If she’d intended to eat her, she would have done so already. The fear she expected wasn’t justified, it was just the way the apes had always reacted to her, ever since she’d woken up in the dark and… “Thank you,” she said quickly, trying to halt the progression of her thoughts before they became too painful.

“There’s no shame in being different,” Jenny shrugged. “Leastways, there shouldn’t be. Besides, I think it’s quite fantastical. You really have scales?”

“All over my body,” Vastra ducked her head shyly. “I’m _homo reptilia._ Closely related to humans, but reptilian.”

“How can you be related to humans if we’re mammals? And why… Why do you have breasts?”

Vastra appeared to turn a darker shade of green, although Jenny wasn’t sure, and the crests on her head flared a little. Jenny thought they were magnificent, like a crown. Madame Vastra seemed the sort of person who would wear a crown quite well. She was well-spoken, calm, collected, kind, with a regal air about her as though she knew exactly who she was and where she was meant to fit in in the world. Jenny had no idea how very far that was from the truth.

“Long ago, when your kind had only just begun to evolve, we were… natural enemies. We hunted one another. Your ancestors saw us as animals, and we saw them as a food source. Eventually, we realised that we, as the more intelligent-”

“And who says you were the more intelligent?!” Jenny was instantly indignant, and it pleased Madame Vastra to see that the little mammal had fire.

“We have ships that can take us to the stars. Machines that can put us to sleep for millennia, and wake us up not looking a day older. Science that could eradicate human illness forever. The apes were still hunting with stone spears,” she said flatly. Jenny cringed.

“Right, sorry,” she said, not sure quite what it meant to go to the stars in a ship, or how anyone could sleep for millions of years, but she knew it was something sciency.

“As I was saying… We were bipedal even then, at times. But we would hunt on all fours, or crawl around in the underbrush to stalk our prey. We realised, however, that it would be more beneficial if we were to attempt a peaceful coexistence with the apes. They were evolving quickly, and they proved to have at least limited intelligence, learning to create tools and such. We shared certain similarities, our facial features for instance, and basic anatomy. After careful analysis of their traits, our scientists even thought some things- such as raising our own young instead of expecting them to fend for themselves- might even be beneficial to our survival as a race,” Madame Vastra paused for a moment, and seemed to notice for the first time the look of Jenny’s face. Or, rather, the lack of one, because Jenny was utterly baffled. She sighed. “Gene splicing. We added human genes to our own, to make us look more like you, and to benefit us where it may. We thought it would help your ancestors be less afraid of us if we had more similarities. We became entirely bipedal, we began to care for our hatchlings and teach them skills, our women even grew breasts, although we still have no practical use for them. They served mostly as a means of differentiation for the apes, as they could not pick up the more subtle nuances in our facial features and bodily structure. We developed hands and feet instead of claws- and fingers are far more practical in the realms of science, or for such things as turning the pages of a book, even.”

“So… you changed yourselves to help humans accept you?”

“Well, they weren’t humans yet,” Madame Vastra seemed to have forgotten that Jenny was one herself, “but yes. We hoped we could peacefully coexist. We would stop eating them, and they would stop clearing the lands in which we lived.” Madame Vastra’s wistful tone was so sad Jenny began to think maybe it would have been nice if their races could have worked together. Of course, it didn’t seem as though that had worked, as she’d never met anyone who wasn’t human before.

“What happened?”

“The apes were unable to accept us,” Madame Vastra spoke bitterly. “As they evolved further, they wanted to conquer the land, force the earth into submission. They settled, and refused to share it with any other beings. Eventually, we were forced underground in an attempt to preserve ourselves. Then we slept, for millennia, hoping that one day we might reclaim our home. But look what you have done to the world! It has become cold and hard in our absence. Gone are the warm lands, the rivers and lakes, the bountiful trees and flowers of my childhood. The creatures who populated _that_ earth are dead, and only we survive, because of our superior technology. Apes have ruined the planet and made it foreign and hostile. There is no home for us here.”

Madame Vastra sounded both angry and hurt, and she got up suddenly, donning her veil. She strode from the room quickly. Jenny didn’t blame her. She thought of a world were even England could be warm, where there were trees everywhere, and a race that would even go so far as to change their biology to try and foster peace. It didn’t sound bad to her. Then she looked out the window, at the grey sky, the rain, and the towering buildings. She wasn’t sure about the _homo reptilia_ being civilised, if they lived outside, and didn’t have buildings or roads or any of the things that made England so very Victorian, the industrial pioneers of the world. She had to admit that she was proud of the Empire, of her queen, and of the scientific advances they had made. But maybe humans could have tried to accept them. Maybe the two races could have taught each other things.

Jenny shook her head at herself. She was sure she had to be going mad, believing a story like Madame Vastra’s, believing that anything could survive that long, long enough to have witnessed the evolution of man. Maybe she was still dreaming, and her imagination had made up a reason for Madame Vastra to wear a veil. She did have at least some imagination, though not usually that wild. She was still trying to convince herself that it had been a dream when a blue box materialised at the foot of the bed and the Doctor popped out of it. His hair was steaming and he’d lost his jacket, but he looked like he was having an awful lot of fun.

“Ah, Jenny! I hoped I’d end up here. How are you doing?”

“Um… ah… did you just… Your box,” she stammered. The Doctor blinked, looked back at the Tardis, and then to Jenny.

“What about it?”

“Well, it just appeared. And then you stepped out of it.”

“I live in it! And it just appeared because I travel in it, too. It’s a spaceship,” the Doctor said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “It can travel through all of time and space- the past, the future… the present too so long as it’s not a Sunday. I don’t like Sundays. It can also take me to just about any planet in the universe, and occasionally other universes too, although that doesn’t always end well.” The Doctor frowned for a moment, then turned back to Jenny. “Good old Tardis!”

“You live in a blue box that can appear out of nowhere and travel in time. Madame Vastra’s a lizard lady who’s lived millions of years and thinks humans are still apes,” Jenny said disbelievingly. “Who _are_ you people?!”

“Well, I’m a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey-”

“You’re an alien.”

“Yes.”

“An actual alien. Like, a man from outer space alien. I am in a house shared by an alien and a lizard.” The Doctor wondered why Jenny kept on stating the obvious. It was a testament to her disbelief that she repeatedly did so. “And I suppose you two are planning to have alien lizard babies some time, too. Okay, I want out now.” Jenny got to her feet looking for all the world like she was about to run out into the street screaming, but just then Vastra- having heard the Tardis materialise- came in through the door, and Jenny remembered what she’d said about eating her. She sat down again quickly, glaring at the both of them.

“Ah, Vastra. I thought I told you to wait,” the Doctor said.

“I thought you said you’d be back in a week,” she replied drily. The Doctor grinned and shrugged, like he couldn’t bear to stay away.

“So how is she?” Jenny thought Vastra was asking about her, and the idea was so absurd she almost laughed. The Doctor waved his light around her a bit, checked it, and grinned again.

“Totally fine, it appears.”

“Well-”

Jenny felt she’d better say something and interrupt Madame Vastra before any more crazy decided to make an appearance, but when she opened her mouth only a small, strangled sound made its way out of her throat.

“Jenny?”

“I’m going mad,” she said simply. “I’d almost rather… I’d rather… Oh,” she stuttered to a stop and suddenly she was crying, and she wasn’t even sure why. Not sadness, not really, she had no reason to be sad. She had no reason to be happy either, and she was so confused she thought her head might explode.

The Doctor waved his light at her again, as if tears were something he could fix, and then looked confused when whatever it was must have told him she was still perfectly healthy. He and Vastra exchanged desperate looks, and he shrugged to indicate he had no idea what to do when a girl started crying. Madame Vastra tried to lay a hand on Jenny’s shoulder tentatively, but she shrugged it off almost violently and then curled up as small as she could, pulling the blankets up over her head and disappearing.

“Please just leave me alone,” she sobbed, her voice muffled by the blankets. The Doctor watched the bed tremble under the force of the girl’s sobs for a moment, and then he and Vastra exited the room helplessly, closing the door quietly behind them. Jenny’s tears didn’t stop until she’d exhausted herself and drifted off to sleep, still occasionally sobbing through her dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas to everyone reading this, I hope it was wonderful!!! And I hope you enjoy this! :-)


	5. The Mad Man in a Box

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenny manages to get herself back under control only to have to Doctor ruin it again, and then she and Vastra have an almost heart-to-heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is much harder than I thought it would be. Sorry for the longer-than-expected wait for a not-very-long-or-active update. I promise exciting stuff will start happening next update, and I will not post it until I manage to make that happen :-D

Jenny woke with eyes that felt tired and sore, scratchy. As she struggled to emerge from beneath the weight of the blankets covering her, she remembered that she had been crying, and that surprised her. She hated crying, or showing any sort of emotion really, and certainly not in public. Finally, she broke free of the covers, and gratefully breathed in the fresh air. For a moment her mind was still foggy, and she was surprised to realise that while the air was fresher than it had been in the little blanket cave she’d created, it was still warm. Madame Vastra must have spent an absolute fortune on coal and wood, as Jenny realised that, in five days- or at least the five days she remembered- of being in Vastra’s home, she’d never once noticed the fire burn down or been cold in the slightest. Even the floor was warm, testifying to the heat of the room below her.

Then the fog cleared from her mind, and she remembered that there were more serious issues than the cost of coal. Like the fact that Madame Vastra was a lizard and the Doctor- the mysterious man who’d been mostly responsible for her rescue- was an alien, and they were both living together in Victorian London.

 _Then again, I don’t suppose there’s much opportunity for lizard women and aliens to get married on earth. Cohabitation is probably all they can manage. But why are they on earth in the first place? And how does it even work, when they must be different species?_ Jenny cringed at her own thoughts. She was hardly one to judge, though. She still couldn’t decide whether or not she liked men. _Why am I thinking about this right now? It’s hardly more important than the finances, there are even more serious things to consider than both coal and their relationship!_ She scolded herself mentally, but then wondered what other issue there could possibly be.

Somehow, she had managed to get herself a job working for two people who couldn’t possibly exist, with a more than reasonable wage that she would not need to use to pay rent or to buy food. She could even go back to see her family! She could face them with money like that- she could both contribute to their funds and be no burden to them. And they’d never dare ask what had happened to her previous job and possibly offend her, not when her new job was so likely to improve their fortunes. She realised she had been wrong; she did want to visit her family, since she could finally come out of hiding.

So, maybe her employers were impossible. But her employers were also two members of the upper class who had clearly rescued her off the streets and not turned her in to the church, the orphanage, or the workhouse. That was a type of impossible she could come to enjoy. Then, suddenly, the Doctor burst through the door.

“Oh good, you’re awake. Did you say alien-lizard babies?!” He sounded horrified. Jenny was so surprised all she could do was gape at him as Vastra burst through the door behind him.

“You think we are going to mate?!” She also sounded aghast, more ruffled than Jenny had thought possible of her. She stared at them for a moment longer, and then her hands moved on their own accord, pointing at one then the other as if she was trying to count them.

“Well, aren’t you? You two are living together, you are of opposite genders and she _has_ shown you her face. You trust each other and-”

“We’re friends!” Vastra declared it very loudly and still sounding horrified at the possibility. The Doctor nodded vigorously in agreement.

“So… you’re not together? But you both live here, which is terribly improper-”

“I already told you I live in my TARDIS! I’m just visiting,” the Doctor protested. “We on no account live together, or have any intent on being… involved. Anyway, I’m married. Or I will be. Or was. I’m not quite sure, it’s all terribly confusing and I never can keep track of which face does what, but I think I met my wife, only it was before she was my wife but after we’d been married for a very long time. It was in a library. Dangerous places, libraries, you wouldn’t believe-”

“Doctor,” Vastra interrupted gently, the affront all but gone from her voice. “You’re scaring her, and she has no idea what you’re talking about.” And indeed, Jenny was still staring at him, mouth agape, her hands trembling slightly. Mentally, she decided she’d never, ever get into anything again without knowing the full extent of its weirdness, because while she was sure with time she’d grow used to Madame Vastra’s appearance, and there was even something quite magnificent about it, she wasn’t sure she could come to terms with a clearly mad man who lived in a box and somehow seemed to know his future and had eyes that seemed older than the universe. She’d certainly never be able to deal with him appearing out of nowhere and then disappearing again- he seemed like a very disruptive presence. Of course, at the time Jenny had no idea how very true of him that assessment would turn out to be.

The Doctor shut his mouth abruptly at Vastra’s interruption, and apologised to Jenny. She graciously forgave him and tried to pretend she wasn’t half as distressed as she felt. Vastra, though, could smell it on her, and she cautiously asked the Doctor if he might excuse them for a moment. He looked a little disgruntled to be left out of anything, but agreed to leave the room and- at Vastra’s warning- promised not to listen in. Jenny couldn’t help but feel a little relieved.

“Is he around often, ma’am?”

“Not at all. He is, in fact, usually very busy and prone to forgetting all about his various friends. I am just in the unfortunate position of knowing little to nothing about human biology, and was in need of his help.”

“Okay,” Jenny said weakly. She wasn’t much reassured- Madame Vastra still knew nothing of human biology, and if she was going to go around rescuing people Jenny wasn’t sure how helpful she herself would be, with her own limited knowledge.

“Would it put you more at ease if you could ask me some questions?” Vastra was showing a rare moment of empathy and social ability. Jenny breathed in properly for the first time since the Doctor had entered the room, and nodded that yes, that would be very good.

“Very well, then,” Vastra agreed, nodding briskly. She pulled over an armchair from its position near the fire, and sat before Jenny, who was sitting up in the bed, leaning against the headboard and still wrapped in blankets. They sat in expectant silence for a while, then Jenny nervously licked her lips and began.

“I think I have been… naïve, ma’am,” she admitted.

“In what way?” Madame Vastra sounded dangerous, more so than Jenny had heard her be before that point; imperious and cold and definitely not human.

“In… not fully considering the implications of working for you, ma’am,” she said haltingly. Madame Vastra straightened abruptly.

“You wish to leave?”

“No!” Jenny was so alarmed she instantly raised her eyes to Vastra’s. “No, never,” she repeated, and Vastra visibly relaxed.

“Good. It would be a shame to have to eat you after all,” Vastra said, so flatly that Jenny was sure she was joking, then sure she didn’t know how to joke. _Jeez, she’s going to be so hard to understand_.

Vastra raised what would have been an eyebrow, had she had any hair, and Jenny was impressed at her attempt to imitate human facial expressions. She was clearly prompting Jenny to elaborate.

“I just mean, it’s all very well to have your life saved by a lizard woman from the dawn of time and agree to be her maid, and ma’am I intend to serve you to the best of my ability for as long as you need me to, I do. But, aliens? You at least are from Earth, but the Doctor is from a different planet! And he lives in a box approximately the size of an outhouse. He’s completely insane and if he comes from space there must be so many other space people out there and maybe from other planets too and-” Jenny had to stop and breathe before continuing her very fast and almost nonsensical babbling. “I’m scared of him, ma’am.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think? Thank you for reading it!!


	6. Justice and Free Clothes (both wonderful)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra explains the Doctor and what he does in the world, while Jenny almost comes to terms with the existence of aliens and briefly meets the TARDIS. A mostly-filler chapter as I warm into this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if I slip into present tense at un-fit moments, I'm finding it more and more difficult to write in the past tense (I have a penchant for writing in the present tense so as not to rule out my options for creating chaos and causing havoc, though I know I can't do that with these two). I hope you enjoy it, and that I'm still on the right track. At any rate, soon I can get to some more juicy bits!

Madame Vastra considered Jenny silently as she spoke, not seeming in the least perturbed by Jenny’s outpouring of near-nonsense. But when Jenny admitted to being scared of the Doctor, Vastra flashed her a small, brief smile.

“Oh, the Doctor will not harm you, Jenny.”

“Maybe not, but his existence and his being here might. If he exists it means other aliens do too, and if he can get here it means some of the others might also be able to. And the universe is so big, just look at all the stars, and they’re only the ones we can see, and they change year-round. The universe is huge and if it’s filled with creatures then there could be anything, anything at all, out there.” Jenny stopped then, quite sure that she had properly explained why the universe wasn’t a very safe place to have your planet located. Madame Vastra nodded thoughtfully, a little surprised at how logically the ape had managed to reason out why the Doctor’s existence might pose a danger, and how she’d adopted the idea of aliens, at least in theory, so quickly.

“Trouble seems to follow the Doctor,” she admitted eventually, “but I think that may be because he has a great ability to fix things. He finds trouble and gets out of it, making sure that the mess he leaves behind is considerably smaller and easier to clean up than the mess he first got into. He’s an interesting man. Not necessarily good, not intrinsically, but he does good, he tries to always do good, and he is just. Always, he serves justice. He will not destroy anyone, no matter what they’ve done, without giving them a chance to repent first. But he doesn’t let them get away with things, with hurting people or trying to take over planets, and if they turn down the second chance he gives them, then they can get drowned or burned or exiled or trapped in time or any number of other punishments.” Jenny liked the sound of Vastra’s voice, the low, melodic quality of it and the way her accent was gentle enough to mark her as foreign without making her difficult to understand. It was a beautiful voice, and what she’d said went a long way towards comforting her, as well.

“He’s justice, then. He’s an alien, planet traveling, whatever-he-is who takes justice with him and tries to stop aliens and humans and other species from destroying each other?”

“More or less,” Vastra agreed, slightly hesitant in naming the Doctor as a defender of anyone or anything in particular. She saw him as trying to atone for his actions in the Time War, the same way as she had to atone for her own misdeeds. He was not a hero. Not to her, at any rate.

Vastra called the Doctor back in then, and he offered to show Jenny the inside of his TARDIS as a sort of peace offering. Madame Vastra perhaps should have realised it was not a good idea, but she didn’t, and so the Doctor lead Jenny to the conservatory, where he had parked the TARDIS after removing it from the bedroom. Jenny, standing at the open door of the TARDIS, staring in awe at the bigger-on-the-inside room with a machine in the middle, complete with lots of dangerous-looking switches and buttons, made a little squeaking noise and all but collapsed in shock. The Doctor managed to prop her up- somewhat awkwardly, as neither appreciated having physical contact with the other- and Jenny managed to recover herself enough that she complimented the Doctor on his home.

The TARDIS made a sound that might have meant she appreciated the compliment, and the Doctor decided to take Jenny to the new room he discovered recently, that was full of row upon row of wardrobes. He hadn’t quite finished exploring them all, he explained, but he mentioned offhand that he may have found Narnia in one of them and it might be a real place after all; and Jenny looked as though she might still faint even though The Chronicles of Narnia hadn’t been written yet; and Vastra hissed at the Doctor because she was annoyed that she hadn’t realised the effect it would have on Jenny and also because she wasn’t sure if she should have been concerned about the girl’s constitution, or the ignorance of the apes, or if perhaps the Doctor might have permanently broken the girl’s mind. The TARDIS, however, had clearly taken a shine to her, and one of the wardrobes popped open. Upon inspection, it was revealed to contain three identical maid’s uniforms that fit Jenny perfectly, a pair of black trousers with two shirts that were perhaps more fitted than Jenny would have liked (and really, what would she be doing in trousers and a shirt, dressed like a boy) along with a jacket, and also several Victorian-style dresses the fit Jenny’s age and position perfectly. She finished off the gift with a perfect pair of black leather shoes, fur-lined gloves, a truly magnificent scarf and a dress… what a dress. It was a deep red that contrasted wonderfully with Jenny’s pale skin and shockingly black hair, and it clung to her so that even though she was young and frail and still ridiculously skinny she appeared to have curves like a woman.

It was so beautiful and glittery that the Doctor suspected the TARDIS was flirting and seemed a little hurt that the human could win his old girl over so easily with a little compliment (of course, Jenny was one of the few humans who had managed not to comment on her size, despite noticing it, and one of the even fewer who had complimented the TARDIS at all). Vastra, back to being utterly literal and unempathetic in her thoughts, ignored both Jenny’s delight and gratitude as well as the Doctor’s petty hurt, and was only glad she would not have to figure out how to dress Jenny.

The Doctor spent the remainder of the day with the pair, trying to make sure Vastra wouldn’t eat Jenny without undue consideration, and trying to make sure Jenny understood what she would have to do to avoid being eaten. Slowly and cautiously, with the Doctor having to step in as mediator more often than not, the two began to come to some sort of understanding, with a routine that might suit them until Jenny found her feet again and managed to stop freaking out. When he bid them goodbye that evening, Vastra was feeling far more optimistic about her attempt to be Victorian than she had thought possible, and Jenny was just so relieved to be alive and employed that she would have hugged anyone who got too close to her. The Doctor allowed himself a not undue amount of smugness at how well he thought he had managed things.


	7. The Lizard Goddess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra and Jenny settle into their new lives together, and Jenny attempt to teach Madame Vastra a little bit about human society; include a little discussion on religion, Egypt, and why the Doctor can't fly the Tardis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the way too long wait before this next update. Uni has been getting me down, and other stuff. General chaos. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this, I tried to make it long by way of an apology! And I'm so sorry for the awful typos in the last update!

For two weeks, everything went fairly smoothly for the small household at Paternoster row. At least, it went as smoothly as possibly when a lizard woman from the dawn of time suddenly has a human girl and a new society thrust upon her at once and she must adapt quickly. The same was true for Jenny, as she learned how to navigate herself around the household duties and- by personal preference- avoided doing chores in the same room as Madame Vastra. It wasn’t that she wanted to avoid her mistress so much as that she found it was very difficult to do her chores properly and deal with Madame Vastra’s incessant and often seemingly random questions at the same time.

“How long does winter last?”

“How do the apes mark the years?”

“Why do you wear so many clothes?”

“Who was Shakespeare?”

“What distinguishes poetry from prose?”

“How much affection or disinterest is it acceptable to show before it’s deemed improper?”

Poor Jenny just about managed to keep up, but Vastra’s hunger for knowledge was insatiable. Often they were very basic questions, and Jenny had to constantly remind herself that Vastra had been asleep for millions of years- since before humans existed. But occasionally she would come out with complex ethical questions, the type that Jenny couldn’t even begin to answer.

“If someone kills a murderer, why is that just as bad as murder, when formal execution is perfectly acceptable?”

“Why is someone stealing to help feed their family a crime but it isn’t it a crime for society to allow that family to starve?”

“People are so impressed by ancient human societies like the Romans and the Greeks, so why is slavery considered a bad thing?”

If Jenny was unfortunate enough to be in Madame Vastra’s presence whenever question such as those occurred to her, she would apologise for having no answer and move on to a different room quickly.

Later on in the evening however, after dinner, Vastra would take tea in the drawing room, and Jenny would join her then for the express purpose of answering questions and helping explain anything that had confused her mistress. She did so at Vastra’s request, but found that she didn’t actually mind.

At those times, if Vastra asked a complicated question, Jenny would find herself engaged in conversation with her as they both tried to come up with an answer more carefully considered than “it’s the law”. Jenny enjoyed these moments for the companionship, because she was so glad not to be lonely, and because she was thrilled at Madame Vastra’s foreign ideas about morality and the strange but intelligent way she thought of things. Vastra, in turn, relished the opportunity to learn about apes and their society, to observe their reasoning and, most of all, she was very pleased to find her maid far less ignorant than she had originally assumed. She found that when she was fortunate enough to draw Jenny into a debate, the maid would occasionally offer the most profound arguments, so thoroughly built that sometimes Vastra would even grudgingly concede the point; not often, but sometimes.

One evening, however, much to Jenny’s surprise, Vastra had more specific questions; questions directly about her maid. Even more surprising was that she chose to share a little of her own life during their discussion.

“Jenny, tomorrow is Sunday.”

“Yes ma’am,” Jenny answered cautiously, wary of Vastra’s odd question in the form of a statement.

“Last Sunday you said you would prefer to stay here than to take your day off. I believe you spent your time reading. I was, however, under the impression that observing a day of rest on a Sunday is very important in your culture.”

“Well ma’am… Usually people go to church on Sundays, and then spend the day with their families. That’s what most people do, at least.”

“What is church?” Vastra cocked her head, confused. Jenny hadn’t really registered it before, but she’d already come to understand some of her mistress’ gestures and expressions in the short time they’d spent together.

“It’s where people go to worship God, ma’am. He says in the bible that we’re supposed to do that every Sunday. The bible is-”

“Your religious book, yes,” Vastra interrupted gently, pausing to consider the new information. “You only have one God?”

“Yes ma’am. Leastways, we only have one in England. There might be different ones in other places, like the Ancient Greeks had different gods, didn’t they? Also we have Jesus, he’s God’s son but also God, and there’s the Holy Spirit, who’s also different but also God too. It’s called The Trinity, but I don’t understand how it’s supposed to work,” Jenny answered, shaking her head a little as she tried to explain a concept she couldn’t comprehend herself. Vastra pursed her lips pensively, making no reply for a moment.

“You do not go to church, although it is a command of your God that you do so,” she said eventually.

“No ma’am. It’s a waste of a perfectly good day. I don’t particularly like the commands of God, you see. He also said women are only allowed to love men, and vice versa. That’s what made it so bad for me to kiss the scullery maid at my last job, ma’am, only I quite liked it and I don’t see why it should be wrong if it wasn’t hurting no one. It’s not like I killed anyone. She liked it too, I know she did, although after they caught us she said she didn’t and ‘repented’ to the priest so that they’d let her keep her job.”

Vastra wasn’t sure about her understanding of the maid’s tone of voice, but she suspected that Jenny had been hurt by the reaction of her friend. “Why did you not do the same, Jenny?”

“It wouldn’t have been real, ma’am.”

“Would it not have been preferable to unemployment?”                         

“No. It would have been pretending to feel differently to what I did, and he wasn’t even the nice sort of priest. He was all angry and shouty and I would never let someone like that think he was better than me or that he has a right to tell me what to do. I can make my own rules to be good without God, if his priests are horrible and his rules mean people can’t be happy with each other just because they happen to be both women or both men.” She ended sounding so determined that it was unmistakeable, even to Vastra, and her voice held a not undue hint of righteous indignation. Vastra smiled for a brief moment, almost imperceptibly, at the thought of Jenny trying to be noble and refusing to compromise herself.

“Religion does not have to dictate good and bad. Besides,” and then Vastra smiled quite obviously, with a mischievous glint in her eye, “who’s to say that your God is actually a god at all?”

“Madame!” Jenny gasped. She was prepared to begrudge God his rules in the privacy of her mistress’ home, but the blasphemous suggestion still shocked her, as it was wont to. After all, she was still Victorian.

“Several years ago… three, I think, I believe it was 1881 in human years, at least in this timeline… Three years ago I visited a country quite far to the southeast of here, called Egypt. The natives of that land had no notion of your God at all. In fact, they rather mistook me for one of their own, which lead to quite enjoyable living standards,” she said smugly. Jenny stared at her open-mouthed, unable to wrap her mind around the idea that Madame Vastra, who couldn’t stand the cold and hissed at the rain, who spent her evenings reading and sipping tea by the fire, or asking obvious questions… she couldn’t believe that her own mistress had once been mistaken for a goddess by some foreign civilisation- one the Doctor had taken her to, she surmised.

“They thought you were a goddess?”

“Oh, yes. If I can be a goddess to them and yet a monster here, then who is to say your God has any more right to claim he is a deity than I do? And so, on the authority of the divinity granted me by the Egyptian peoples,” she stood up and adopted a ridiculously pompous pose, still smiling, “I declare that in my home- providing you hurt no one- you may love whomsoever you please, and operate by your own standards of morality wherever we may venture together, Miss Jenny Flint.” Vastra winked at her wickedly as Jenny laughed, before sitting down again demurely as though she hadn’t just made up her own commandment for the sole purpose of amusing her maid.

“Why didn’t you stay being a goddess, ma’am,” Jenny asked once she’d regained her composure. “It must have been lovely, and I’m sure you were good at it.”

“Oh, well, the Doctor and I had monsters to fight and civilisations to rescue, and besides, he was trying to prove to me that humanity had evolved and was no longer primitive. I do not think landing in the distant past (as far as humanity is concerned, at any rate) and having me heralded as a deity made quite the point he had intended. He’s not very good at navigating his Tardis, unfortunately, and lands in the wrong place quite a lot. It’s possibly the right place, if you look at the fact that he almost always lands where he’s needed, but it can be terribly inconvenient at times.”

That night, as Jenny got ready to go to bed, she decided she was glad Vastra hadn’t decided to stay in Egypt. Apart from the fact that if she had, Jenny would likely still be homeless, cold and hungry- if not dead- she quite enjoyed her mistress’ company, even if it would be most improper to say so. She was also quite sure that- providing Madame Vastra managed not to get herself killed for being a lizard- she might actually have something to teach Victorian London about how to think for themselves. At the very least, Jenny was eager to see a man try to win an argument against her brilliant intellect. She had no doubt it would be highly amusing, at the very least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My basis for Vastra's trip to Egypt is The Brilliant Book 2012, which I do not own, so I can't claim to have used its information accurately. Even so, this is still my story, even if they're not my characters.
> 
> Slavery was abolished in 1833, and this is set in 1884, so slaves have been illegal for quite some time.
> 
> And again, thank you all for your continued (or new) readership!


	8. Befriending the Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra argues with herself about whether or not it's a good idea being friendly with Jenny, Jenny takes her first Sunday off and makes a new friend and Vastra stuggles- as usual- with Victorian concepts such as modesty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well would you look at that, another chapter. Yes, I may have written this while I was supposed to be writing about Athenian Democracy, but that's what all-nighters are for, right? I hope you all enjoy it :-)

Vastra found herself scowling at her reflection in the mirror as the prepared for bed.

_What are you doing?!_

She knew there was no logical reason that she should think in the second person, but she was angry and felt that she needed setting straight. Unfortunately, she was the only person available to do so.

_What exactly were you thinking downstairs? That girl, that APE, is your maid; your servant. She is not your friend, she will never be your friend, because you will not allow her to be your friend. You certainly won’t joke with her about times in your past that you should never even have shared with her._

Vastra sighed as she slipped her nightshirt on.

_But she’s intelligent. She understands that the world is so much bigger than her experience of it. She doesn’t think her way of thinking is the only one, she’s even willing to doubt her God. She can teach me about humans and I could teach her about everything else. We could be friends._

Her scowl had melted away, but as she turned down the blankets on her bed it made a valiant reappearance.

_You’re a Silurian warrior, and apes are dinner. You do not make friends with your food, Vastra, you eat it! If you refuse to eat the girl because of the service she provides, at least remember that it is below you to be friendly with her._

She slid herself into the bed and sighed again.

_This world doesn’t belong to my people anymore, and they have no need of warriors. I’m alone and I feel alone, and Jenny is kind and clever and good. I want her to be my friend._

She drew the covers up around her as she lay down, and although a part of her was still violently angry that she had abandoned her utter disdain of humanity so soon, another part gently reminded her that she’d spent a very long time with the Doctor, and the apes of the world she’d grown up in were as far removed from the humans that now roamed the earth as she was removed from her home and her people. Besides, if she intended to help humans then she would need to learn to understand them, and Jenny was the only way she could do that. The Doctor had instructed her to keep Jenny in her service, and while she may have disliked it, the Doctor usually knew… well, if not what he was doing, he at least never seemed to do anything irreparably awful.

The next morning- or rather, afternoon, Sunday being the only day she allowed herself to sleep as long as she wanted to- Vastra woke and found the house surprisingly empty. It wasn’t that she’d expected Jenny to be there- Jenny had told her that she intended to spend the large majority of the day entertaining herself in the city- but that she’d grown so accustomed to having Jenny there she’d almost forgotten what it was like to be alone in a building far too big for one person.

Then again, if Jenny was out and, by some miracle, the sun was shining… Vastra hurried to the conservatory, and soon found herself gleefully drinking in the smell of earth and warmth and growing things. Utterly naked, of course, because how could she pretend to still be in the past among the plants of her youth if she was still wearing Victorian garments? With no one around to witness it, she knew she was not above indulging herself for one day at least.

For her own part, Jenny was greatly enjoying her day out. She was wearing one of the dresses the TARDIS had gifted her, having deemed it appropriate for her ‘Sunday best’, and as she walked she toyed with the idea of surprising her family with a visit. She knew she wouldn’t, of course. She would first write to them and inform them that she was still alive and employed, then she would send them her first month’s wages, and then- and only if they appeared to be willing- she might visit them.

Pleased with her plan, she decided she might buy (yes, buy, with actual money, she could hardly believe it) a penny pie, and then walk in one of the parks to enjoy it. She was side-tracked however, when the young man she recognised vaguely as the butcher’s boy approached her cautiously and asked that he be allowed to buy her the pie in exchange for the ‘pleasure’ of her company. Jenny was so flustered and surprised that she agreed, and then found herself sitting in the park with him. There were people all around, walking and enjoying a rare day of sun, and they were in the wide open, so she didn’t feel too awkward about spending some time with him; they were hardy alone.

His name was Thomas, and it appeared the first thing he wanted to know was how on earth Jenny’s mistress managed to consume as much meat within the week as Jenny bought. Jenny giggled at the question.

“Madame is foreign,” she said automatically. It was her default answer to explain all her mistress’ peculiarities. But then, partly because she was grateful for the pie and partly because he was smiling at her in a way that she quite liked, she attempted to elaborate. “She’s used to a very different diet, with a lot more meat. She says it’s important to eat meat at every meal. Although she requests I buy a lot of vegetables as well. Madame eats an uncommon amount,” she giggled, and then couldn’t believe she’d actually just admitted that to a boy she’d only met two weeks ago. Thomas, however, just laughed with her and shrugged.

“You couldn’t tell it by looking at her,” he said, and Jenny thought she’d better not mention that Madame rarely even wore a corset. Vastra didn’t really need to, and she was highly irritated by the restrictive nature of Victorian clothing even without it.

Jenny found Thomas uncommonly easy to talk to, and he in turn found her a willing audience for all his jokes and the stories he liked to tell about his various escapades around the city.

“Once, we had a man with a truly monstrous moustache- he looked as though a cat had fallen asleep on his top lip- enquire if he might buy an entire lamb, still in one piece. He was a big man, with far too much hair everywhere and a very heavy accent, but I’m still not sure he could have eaten the entire thing himself. I don’t think he was a servant, either, I think he was buying his own meal.”

“Maybe all foreigners share a peculiar fondness for meat,” Jenny smiled to herself, knowing that no human could match Madame Vastra’s eating habits, and Thomas wriggled his eyebrows and said that he didn’t mind how much they bought so long as he could afford to buy pretty girls their lunches occasionally. Jenny blushed and avoided making eye-contact for a full five minutes afterward.

It wasn’t until the sun began to go down and the cold returned that Thomas bid Jenny a reluctant goodbye, cheekily saying he hoped her mistress would continue requesting Jenny buy just as much meat as ever. Jenny returned to 13 Paternoster Row positively glowing, and practically skipped into the library to ask her mistress if she would like some tea.

Thankfully, Vastra had reclothed herself, but unfortunately she hadn’t done so quite to Victorian standards. That is to say, she was sitting by the fire absorbing the heat in little more than her slip. Jenny coughed and spluttered and choked on her words and Vastra watched her in confused wonder as she valiantly tried to act properly and not ask what had happened to her clothes.

“Jenny, are you quite alright?”

“Madame… Yes but, why aren’t you wearing clothes?” Jenny couldn’t bring herself to speak louder than a whisper.

“I like to be able to feel the heat of the fire. Am I not wearing enough to be appropriately clothed?”

“Not exactly,” Jenny managed, blushing furiously. “Your, um, sorry, your legs are showing, Madame.”

“Is that immodest?”

“Very. It’s not even good to say ‘legs’ in public.”

Madame Vastra sighed and reluctantly rose to go and put on more suitable attire, instructing Jenny to return with the tea as soon as it was ready. She was most displeased with Victorian propriety, yet again.

As she dressed, she considered the way Jenny had practically skipped into the library, not even stopping until she fully registered Vastra’s state of undress. She recalled that Jenny seemed to have entered smiling, and that there was something… fresh, about her. Something had put her human in a ridiculously good mood, and she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to know what it was. To her surprise, she found that the thought disappointed her. _Be reasonable Vastra, you do not want to get close to the girl._

_Yes I do. I want us to share things._

_Vastra…_

_Hush. England is big and cold and lonely, and I shan’t make myself any more miserable than I must be. I therefore choose to have Jenny as my friend, and you have no right at all to protest._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- As regards Jenny's food choice: In the late Victorian Era you could buy almost anything from street vendors, for such a wide range of prices that only the poorest of the poor couldn't afford food. Many working class families would like in homes unequipped for cooking and could eat every meal on the street. Penny pies are an actual thing (as were eels, pigs trotters etc.)
> 
> \- There were also parks in the sense that England today is littered with parks, began really in the early Victorian era but really cultivate passionately later on, for people to enjoy nature despite the rapidly growing industrialism. Also, for some reason, they thought if there were parks to spend time in, people might choose to walk in the green rather than go to the pub. I seriously doubt this worked, I personally far prefer the pub, especially as it's always cold outside, but maybe it helped some people.
> 
> \- Just as a fun bit of trivia, the foreigner Thomas mentions is meant to be a Greek. We like to roast whole lambs, and weirdly enough my grandparents insist that eating the eyeball is a treat. Eugh!
> 
> \- Victorians actually believed 'legs' was a rude word. In some extreme cases they even covered table and chair legs, in case they tempted men to think lustful thoughts. Like 'gee, that table is looking mighty fine'? Weird, I know.


	9. I have no title for this yet...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra finally decides to be friendly with her maid, and Jenny tells Vastra what it is she spent her Sunday doing- and who with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, many thanks for reading, and extra thanks if you took the time to comment! :-D
> 
> Credit to Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw for the crests flaring thing, it's a detail I have borrowed, not made up myself.

When Vastra returned to the library Jenny was already there with the tea, and she seemed far more composed than she had earlier.

“Thank you, Jenny,” Vastra said tentatively, settling herself in the chair closest to the fire somewhat reluctantly. She wanted very much to curl up before the flames like a cat, but didn’t dare. She had to maintain her image of propriety.

“Jenny,” Vastra began, intending first to ask her maid why she had been so happy upon her return, but then thinking better of it. For some reason, she expected the maid to react by stammering a lot and turning red, and she realised that she still had no idea what that meant. Perhaps being able to interpret her maid’s reactions would help her better than asking questions to which she could not be sure of receiving a straight answer. “Jenny, what does it mean when your cheeks turn red?”

“Oh, um… Usually, ma’am, it signals embarrassment. Sometimes shame, or maybe even excitement. And sometimes your cheeks flush when you go somewhere warm after being out in the cold,” she said. Vastra considered that for a moment.

“Like when my crests flare,” she decided eventually. Jenny unintentionally grinned. She’d been wondering what that meant, but hadn’t dared ask for fear of upsetting her mistress.

“It’s called a blush, ma’am. It makes you feel hot and uncomfortable, usually.”

“I think I may also blush sometimes, but I do not think it is as easy to perceive beneath scales,” Vastra decided. Jenny nodded dubiously, unsure of how she was supposed to reply. It seemed, however, that she was not required to, as Vastra picked up her teacup and sipped the hot liquid cautiously. Her face relaxed and she almost smiled. Vastra really enjoyed tea.

A few minutes of companionable silence later, she resolved to ask Jenny why she still smelled so excited. She knew from the Doctor that humans did not have the same exceptional sense of smell her kind possessed, and were not able to sense emotions in the same way. Her ability to do so didn’t seem like an advantage to her however, considering her total _inability_ to read human facial expressions and body language accurately, but at least she had some ability to recognise how the people around her felt. Perhaps she would learn how to read people, and then she would not have to rely solely on smell. She shook her head as if to dislodge her thoughts and tried to focus again on the matter at hand: Jenny’s persistent enthusiasm.

“Jenny, why are you happy?”

“I beg your pardon, ma’am?”

“You are uncommonly happy. Why?”

As she had expected, Jenny blushed and began to stammer. Vastra decided in this instance it meant Jenny was embarrassed. “Ma’am, I… I just enjoyed my afternoon, is all.”

Vastra found herself disinclined to believe Jenny’s evasive answer, and slowly it dawned on her that she had a suspicion as to why Jenny had enjoyed her day so much. She smiled to herself. Of course, she knew the girl was young, perhaps not even a woman yet. She found it difficult to decide sometimes, but- unliked her exact age- Jenny’s youth was definitely not in doubt. She felt as though she should have guessed sooner.

“Did you perhaps spend it with someone, Jenny? Maybe someone you rather liked the look of?” Her tone was laden with suggestion, and Jenny flushed an even more vibrant shade of red.

“Oh ma’am… I’m sorry, I know I never asked and honestly I won’t again if you don’t like it ma’am, really I won’t and I’m very sorry only I forgot to think perhaps you wouldn’t approve, but I know a lot of maids aren’t allowed to and-”

“Jenny, calm yourself!” Vastra was rather alarmed by Jenny’s sudden rush of words. “Why ever would I object if you wished to entertain a suitor?”

“Oh ma’am, not a suitor at all, we’ve only really spoken properly today, we hardly know each other. There’s no serious courting going on. Thank you, ma’am. I know a lot of maids aren’t allowed to entertain any ideas of possibly romantic relationships and I thought-”

“You were mistaken, Jenny. As I’m sure I said yesterday, should you so desire you are free to love anyone you may want to, if your relationship progresses so,” Vastra openly grinned, surprising Jenny. She had no idea how pleasing Vastra found her youth, how much she relished watching Jenny discover the world for herself.

“He is very kind,” she ventured tentatively, “he bought my lunch. And he makes me laugh. Also, he thinks I’m pretty.”

“As he should,” Vastra declared, sounding astonishingly like a proud father. She was quite sure Jenny was more than pretty by human standards. Jenny giggled.

“Well ma’am, I hope you intend to continue eating as you have been, or I shall have to find my own reasons to call at the butcher’s and ‘bump into’ his apprentice.”

Vastra beamed almost as much as Jenny did, and assured her she would not be eating any differently. The cold winter made her uncommonly hungry in an attempt to provide enough energy for sustained warmth.

That night, Jenny went to bed feeling so hopeful she was sure she would never be able to sleep. Never mind sending them money, she might even have a boy to introduce to her family eventually, even if she was sure she was getting ahead of herself.

But he thought she was pretty and he made her laugh and scullery maids be damned but she had enjoyed her day remarkably. And no one would be demanding she repent of entertaining a perfectly suitable young man who was even learning a trade and would certainly have a fine job one day.

Jenny knew she really had nothing but one afternoon in the park to go on, but her usually optimistic nature was suddenly in overdrive. She was hopeful that Thomas actually liked her, that she might like him, that she could move on and finally leave the nightmares of her previous job behind her, and she was almost surprised to find that her insides couldn’t be seen glowing through her skin, she felt so warm. In fact her good mood had the opposite effect of what she had thought, and instead of keeping her awake she was asleep before she knew it.

Madame Vastra was almost as pleased herself, though she couldn’t quite determine why, and was disgruntled at how much she had smiled at Jenny. She knew, in some secret place she hadn’t even yet admitted to herself, that were Jenny to leave her position, she would be completely unable to take care of herself, and yet if Jenny entered a serious relationship with anyone then leave would be exactly what she did. All the same… Jenny’s youth and vigour and excitement and the naivety that led her to regard any new thing as wonderful and full of promise were wondrous to behold. Vastra felt so blessed to be given the chance to witness them that she almost didn’t mind the prospect of being proven completely incompetent.

One thing bothered her vaguely, and that was the fact that Jenny was excited about a young man. She tried to convince herself that Jenny simply wasn’t sure what she liked, and that she was perfectly capable of making mature decisions herself, or that maybe she liked men just as much as she liked women. Maybe she was just young and impressionable, or exploring.

Really, it was none of her business, but she couldn’t shake the nagging worry that Jenny might be so painfully aware of society’s expectations and the backwards ideas of her time that she might convince herself she felt a way that she in actual fact didn’t.

In the same way as Jenny’s hopefulness was a wonder, seeing a young heart crushed was one of the worst things Vastra could imagine, and already she was certain she wanted nothing of the sort to happen to Jenny. Where Jenny slept that night blissfully happy and full of hope, Vastra herself lay awake for hours, frustrated that one little ape could so disturb her sleep.

When she finally manage to rest, her dreams were haunted by memories that woke her frequently through the night. If one good thing came of her restless sleep, it was that she woke in the morning utterly convinced that any misgivings she had were down to her own flaws and experiences, and she became determined not to let her own hurts from millions of years in the past have any effect on the present.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vastra is a very grumpy, tired lizard. General life stuff happens, and I finally manage to work in an opening for the conversation I intend to write next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, well, I'm back. I know, it's been forever, I'm sorry. I hope to be able to get back to more regular posting, and I did my very best to make this a longish update. It's been slow going, my muse is on holiday.

The next day Vastra was irritable and grumpy, and Jenny trod carefully around her mistress in everything she did.

She provided a normal breakfast of eggs, tomatoes and bacon, of which Vastra ate the bacon and eggs but entirely neglected the tomatoes. At first, Jenny had been surprised that her mistress ate any vegetables at all, but Vastra told her that some lizards ate nothing but fruit, and Silurians ate a balanced diet of both plants and meat in the same way as humans did. Even so, she wasn’t that surprised that Vastra had ignored her tomatoes- they were not her favourite vegetable. She claimed they were not as healthy as they looked, and Jenny rarely felt the optimism required to attempt to argue against Madame Vastra.

She spent the morning dusting the innumerable shelves in the library, a tedious job she never enjoyed. She hated having to remove the books from each shelf before dusting and then replacing them, although she mentally made a note of any interesting titles that she thought she might like to read sometime. She knew it was unlikely that she would ever have time to read them all, or even the energy, but she liked to entertain the idea that maybe one day she would read with the ease of her mistress, and practised it in the evenings whenever Vastra didn’t have any questions that needed answering (which wasn’t all that often, really).

Once Jenny was done in the library, she found the rest of the house required very little effort. One lizard woman and her maid make very little mess, and Jenny was always thorough in her work, meaning that the only jobs she needed to do every day were to feed Madame Vastra and make the beds. Even without having much work to do, though, she was not having a pleasant day.

Vastra forgot to test her tea first and accidentally burned her tongue, leading her to snap at Jenny. An apparently rich and popular socialite had sent Vastra an invitation to a party (Vastra decided it was an unwelcome attempt to solve the mystery of who she was); she blamed Jenny. Neither of the two had even the faintest idea of how Jenny could have averted the arrival of the invitation, but she got the blame anyway. She even got the blame when Vastra- growing increasingly agitated as the day wore on- managed to trip over the hem of her dress and fall half-way down the stairs. At least Jenny could understand her fury at that- falling down the stairs was hardly dignified, and only served to feed Vastra’s ire at the fact that she was ‘trapped’ in Victorian clothing. As she picked herself up and gathered the folds of her gown in angry fists, storming up the stairs, Jenny retreated to the kitchen quietly. She was quite certain that her mistress needed something to occupy her time, or being trapped inside constantly would end up in her eating Jenny just to relieve the boredom. She didn’t think she’d enjoy being devoured by an angry lizard very much.

Vastra, for her part, was pacing in her room, fists clenched angrily. She hadn’t expected that one restless night would undo her so thoroughly, but with every tiny issue igniting her temper, the rather big issue of being stuck in the wrong century with the wrong species in the wrong climate was proving too much for her. She wanted desperately to have something to focus on, something to do that would occupy her.

She thought briefly of her promise to the Doctor to help society, and glanced at London through the window. It was raining, the wind so strong that the too-large droplets of water blowing past were almost horizontal. She growled unconsciously. She wanted to make good on her promise, she really did, and prove that despite the problems in the early days after her awakening she was still just as honourable as ever. But she was not going to go traipsing around in the frigid British air, getting drenched, just so she could possibly find someone in need of help or- more likely- find every sensible, non-mad ape sheltered somewhere out of the rain. It would merely waste her time and energy. Without a TARDIS dropping her into situations where she was needed, as it did for the Doctor, she was pretty much useless.

And Jenny… Vastra knew nothing that had happened was really Jenny’s fault. Even her restless night couldn’t truly be pinned on the girl, as she’d obviously never asked her mistress to fret over her. The thought that she might apologise, though, never crossed Vastra’s mind. Apologies were altogether foreign to the woman who was almost always right, and of course she hadn’t been half as offensive to her own species as she was towards humans, so she’d never really had cause to. Still, in an attempt to avoid making matters worse, she told Jenny she would be retiring early and indeed did retreat to her bed, burrowing into her blankets in an attempt to convince herself she was somewhere warm and non-human.

Unfortunately, she neglected to check the time before she made her retreat, and Jenny- despite being a little offended by her mistress’ behaviour- was concerned that she hadn’t even waited until after dinner before giving up on the day. For a short time she tried to entertain herself with a book, but she quickly grew bored with the title she had chosen, and she was still couldn’t convince herself that she shouldn’t do something about Vastra. She lasted all of an hour before steeling her nerves and deciding she had to check that Vastra was okay.

When gently knocking on the door received no answer, she pushed it open quietly and peeked in, hoping against hope that Vastra would be asleep. She wasn’t. At hearing the door open, she sat up (not bothering to disentangle herself from the covers) and turned towards Jenny, which would have been normal had it not looked- to Jenny- like a giant mound of covers had developed sentience and moved of their own accord.

“Uh… Madame?” Her timid question procured a heavy sigh from Vastra, who struggled for a moment before managing to remove her head at least.

“Hello,” she muttered awkwardly.

“Um… I was wondering if you might like some tea? Or dinner? It’s awfully early to try and sleep,” Jenny ventured. Madame Vastra almost pouted.

“I had hoped that wasn’t the case, but much as I would like to be, it appears I am unable to sleep at the moment,” she agreed reluctantly. Jenny nodded, not sure what the proper response would be.

“Would you like me to bring you anything?”

“No,” Vastra frowned slightly, making the scales on her forehead pucker strangely. Jenny had the ridiculous urge to smooth them down, thinking they looked horribly uncomfortable. “Is something the matter? You’re staring at me,” Vastra said, as her frown eased, transforming into an expression more of confusion that anything else. Jenny started.

“Sorry! I was just… wondering if you scales are uncomfortable when they bump against each other or if they get rubbed to wrong way,” she admitted. Vastra’s face sort of twitched, as if she’d very briefly considered that Jenny might have said something mildly amusing, but her expression didn’t change.

“My scales don’t bump into each other,” she said plainly. “They are, however, subject to some irritation in the second instance. Putting on stockings is most uncomfortable. The scales on my legs run towards the floor, rather than the other way around.” She frowned again, and her scales bunched up between her eyebrows, colliding with each other. Jenny couldn’t help but smile slightly at how oblivious to her own facial expressions her mistress was.

“Jenny… will you sit with me?” As soon as she asked it, Vastra felt utterly foolish, but it was too late to retract the invitation. Jenny gave her an uncertain look.

“Here, Madam? In your room?”

“Yes.” Vastra finished extracting herself from the blankets and pushed herself back so that she was sitting up straight, her back against the headboard of her bed. She pulled up the blankets so they covered her to her waist and attempted to smile. “Here, beside me, if you like?” Jenny’s mouth worked silently for a moment. “You’ve changed colour again. Have I said something wrong?”

“No, ma’am,” Jenny squeaked, deciding it would be altogether too complicated to try and explain to her mistress all the restrictions of age, gender, class and circumstance that dictated whether or not it was appropriate for two people to even be in a bedroom together, let alone an actual bed. Firmly telling herself not to needlessly complicate matters, she slowly made her way to the bed and sat beside her mistress. Vastra tried for another awkward smile, more a baring of her teeth than anything else.

“You look like you want to eat me when you smile like that,” Jenny muttered, and Vastra’s crests lifted a little. “Oh, now _you’re_ embarrassed,” she noted, pleased with herself for remembering what the action meant.

Jenny wasn’t sure if she was amused or a little exasperated by how she and Vastra constantly overstepped whatever social or cultural norms the other had that they knew nothing about. Vastra just shrugged ruefully and offered an embarrassed explanation of the occasional difficulties she had mimicking what few human expressions she did understand.

Thankfully, over time with the Doctor and with the help of the translation matrix of the TARDIS she had managed to pick up most human idioms and sayings, as well as an understanding of what their Silurian equivalent would have been. Body language, facial expressions and often even tone of voice largely remained a mystery to her.

“You should think yourself lucky. Not many people have the ability to embarrass me,” Vastra growled. Jenny’s amusement faded. Bantering with her mistress was not something that came naturally to her, nor was it an idea she was entirely comfortable with.

After a moment’s awkward silence, Vastra sighed as she came to the realisation that she was somehow going to have to apologise to Jenny for her earlier behaviour.

“Jenny… I realise I have not been, ah, entirely… fair to you, today,” she managed, wincing. Jenny was so startled it didn’t even occur to her to help ease Vastra’s way. Was she trying to apologise?! Surely not. “I’m afraid I am not at my most reasonable when I am tired. I know, however, that a sleepless night is not justification for the way I have behaved.” Vastra’s words didn’t come to her any easier as she persevered valiantly, but her laboured explanation took long enough for Jenny to regain her wits.

“Ma’am, are you… trying to say you’re sorry?” she ventured, hoping she was right and wasn’t going to anger her mistress further. Vastra sighed, greatly relieved.

“Yes.”

“That’s okay, miss. Maybe just warn me to stay out of your way, next time?” Vastra nodded in agreement and made a rumbling sound that didn’t sound angry, but Jenny was wary about presuming anything. Her ability to understand Vastra was still severely lacking.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenny and Vastra manage to actually talk to each other, sort off. I'm afraid I got a bit carried away and managed to write a far too long conversation. Sorry, but also not sorry, because I enjoy writing conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's reading, giving me kudos, and extra special thanks to those of you who take time to comment. It is great encouragement, thank you!

“Jenny, what do women do in your time to keep themselves entertained?”

“I beg your pardon, miss?”

“I’ve travelled with the Doctor for a very long time- or maybe not very long at all, it’s hard to know really. Too many different time streams. But everywhere we went, there were people just going about their ordinary lives, running errands or enjoying themselves and- when we weren’t fighting for our lives or defeating alien invaders- we explored and did the same. But here, it seems as though the job of a lady of standing is to sit in her library and go mad with boredom.”

Jenny giggled. “Well, that isn’t all you can do. You could take up embroidery-” Vastra hissed with distaste and Jenny moved on hastily, “or learn how to play a musical instrument? If you wanted to be unconventional, you could try writing? Or you could just invite lots of silly ladies round and sit and drink tea with them, enjoy idle gossip and laugh at an irritatingly high pitch,” Jenny wrinkled her nose up at the last suggestion, a little surprised at herself for her boldness in ridiculing socialites in the presence of Madame Vastra. She didn’t seem to mind though, she just looked thoughtful for a moment, and then sighed.

“It’s hard to believe how… ‘unadvanced’ humanity is when you had the entire history of the Silurian empire to model yourselves on,” she grumbled.

“To be fair, we didn’t know you all existed,” Jenny shrugged. “It doesn’t help that you were all hiding underground. You lied, by the way. Or, you let me believe that you lot all hid underground to hide from us, but that doesn’t make sense. Not if you were all so advanced and powerful. If that was the problem you would have just killed us all.” Jenny still couldn’t believe her impertinence. Vastra was looking at her incredulously, only Jenny didn’t know it was incredulous and she wasn’t entirely sure she hadn’t just pushed her mistress too far.

“Did you work that out yourself?!”

“I was dusting in the library. It gave me time to think,” Jenny offered nervously, by way of explanation. Vastra shook her head wonderingly.

_She’s very clever, for an ape._

_Well, I already knew that._

“Our scientists- astronomers- predicted an asteroid on a collision course with the Earth. It was so large that in time we could see it with the naked eye. A huge, burning rock that would punch a crater in the surface of our world, wipe out any life within a huge radius, destroy the eco system and the world’s weather for hundreds of years… Migrating underground and putting ourselves in stasis was the only solution we could think of that would save us from destruction,” Vastra offered. It was only half an answer, but Jenny was still awed by it. Her mistress wasn’t hostile, but she wasn’t exactly friendly, and she didn’t seem the sort to talk about herself. Still, if Madame Vastra was being open for once…

“Then why didn’t all the animals die? How come humans evolved and didn’t die out?”

“Uh…” true to her earlier word, Vasta’s crests flared, and she turned a slightly darker shade of green. “It appears… well, our scientists appear to have been wrong. That asteroid what caught by Earth’s gravitational field and is now called the moon,” she muttered reluctantly. Jenny tried desperately not to laugh, and ended up snorting accidentally. She quickly covered her mouth with both hands and flushed crimson.

“Sorry, I’m sorry, but… You hid from the moon?! With all your science and fancy machines you thought the moon was going to kill everyone,” she repeated, her bland tone somehow emphasising how funny she thought it.

“By rights it should have,” Vastra insisted, chagrined. “It was totally unpredictable that it wouldn’t.”

“But you were wrong. And you always act like your people were so infallible,” Jenny insisted, pulling a face and crossing her arms so Vastra would know she was only half being stubborn, but was also just poking fun. Of course, she miscalculated, forgetting that Vastra was still almost entirely socially inept.

“At least we knew what was happening. Your ancestors continued about their daily lives as if the great fiery meteor bearing down on them was of no consequence at all,” she said, irritated all over again. In fact, she was so incensed that Jenny could barely understand what she was saying through the hissing.

“I was joking, ma’am. I was only teasing. It’s nice to be able to point out that we’re not all idiots sometimes.”

“Ah…” Vastra cocked her head, confused. “You mean, you weren’t serious?”

“Well yea, I was, but I wasn’t being mean about it. I was exaggerating. I should hope you don’t think your people really _were_ infallible!”

“Where did you learn a word like infallible?”

“Hey! I can read too, you know.”

“Apparently so,” Vastra noted drily. Jenny shrugged.

“I’ll go get you some tea, ma’am,” she said, excusing herself tactfully. Vastra watched her go and sighed. She wasn’t sure whether or not she’d just messed up another opportunity to get to know her maid or if, in fact, it had gone well. She’d never considered she would miss the Doctor’s company, but in contrast to understanding humans, Time Lords were a walk in the park.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm back! I'm alive. And I remembered I had a story that I'd not written anything of for a very long time... I wonder if anyone's still reading? If you are, I'm so sorry, and I promise to try and do better. I will force myself to write and update! Honest!

The next day dawned clear and sunny. The sky was a clear, almost painfully bright blue, and the still-wet cobbles of the streets sparkled in the sunlight. Upon waking, Vastra spent a full five minutes standing at her window open-mouthed, almost unable to believe that after almost three solid weeks of horribly grim weather such a day could possibly exist.   It was a rapid knocking on her door that finally brought her out of her surprise.

“Yes, Jenny?”

Jenny burst into the room, painfully alive for what Vastra was sure must have been a very early hour in the morning. It was, in fact, eight, but to Vastra that still qualified as too hearly.

“Ma’am, have you seen the weather? Sunday was sunny, and today’s sunny as well. Isn’t it wonderful? I thought the winter had set in properly for sure, and it hasn’t! Sorry, I’ll leave you to get dressed,” she gushed, then began backing out of the room slowly.

“Actually Jenny… could you help me?” Vastra’s hands fidgeted for a moment; she didn’t like to ask for help with something so simple but, despite having spent a full five weeks in Victorian society, her daily struggle to clothe herself appropriately had become no easier. Jenny smiled.

“Of course, ma’am. I had wondered how you were managing on your own. Proper clothes are so fiddly,” she said, moving quickly to where Vastra had laid out her proposed outfit on the bed. Vastra relaxed a little, relieved that she hadn’t asked something improper. She couldn’t imagine that Jenny had in actual fact spent an entire hour one day puzzling out how- on the rare occasions that she did appear to be wearing a corset- Madame Vastra had managed to lace it- if it was front-laced (Jenny had heard that such was the solution for women who could not afford a maid, although her mother had merely resorted to demanding the help of her husband) or if Vastra instead left it laced and used the busk at the front. As she discovered, Vastra in fact had corsets of the highest quality (courtesy of the Doctor, she presumed) and would have found it impossible to do her own lacing properly.

As it turned out, having Jenny help Madame Vastra dress meant that it only took about half as long as she had become accustomed to. There was, however, one awkward moment, when Jenny tried to help Vastra into her stockings. Her mistress had hissed and snatched them from Jenny so violently she tore a hole in the heel of one.

“Sorry,” Jenny yelped, so startled that she thought she’d better apologise even though she wasn’t sure what it was she’d done.

“No, I… scales,” Vastra muttered, and bent- with difficulty from within her infamous corset- to smooth down the scales on her legs. “They run towards the ground on my legs,” she tried to explain. “The stockings rub them the wrong way, and it’s most uncomfortable.” Jenny’s eyebrows raised slightly in surprise. She hadn’t ever considered how scales might differ from skin in dressing. It was a wonder she hadn’t caused Madame difficulty already.

“Sorry, ma’am. Does it hurt? How can I put them on better?”

“It doesn’t hurt, it is merely an irritation. I believe, however, I can manage them myself,” Vastra said graciously, retrieving another pair, without holes in them.

“Uh, ma’am? That might be a little difficult, what with there being whalebone stays in your corset,” Jenny pointed out, cringing. She really didn’t want to give her mistress further cause for irritation. Vastra paused for a minute, considering, and apparently decided she didn’t want to face the embarrassment of being proved wrong, so she conceded the point without attempting to do it herself. Instead, she asked Jenny to bunch up the stocking and put it on in one go rather than sliding it on like a tube. Jenny did so, trying her best to keep the fabric from coming into contact with her mistress until it was properly in place. Vastra watched her, slightly on edge, ready to react again immediately. Instead, she found herself touched by how much care the girl took it trying not to cause her any further discomfort. It was so thoughtful a thing for someone so young.

“Thank you, Jenny,” she said graciously, standing fully clothed at last. Jenny, taken aback by Vastra’s sincere thanks, merely ducked her head and tried not to smile too widely. She knew she had pushed Vastra a little too far the day before, and her mistress was already growing agitated and restless; it was a relief to know the new day gave her a chance to redeem herself. The sun probably helped, of course.

Jenny left her mistress to make her own way downstairs, to the dining room, and hurried to the kitchen to prepare her breakfast. She was still excited about the sunshine, and as she boiled the kettle, she considered how she might make the most of it without neglecting her duties. On Sunday, she had happily wandered off through the city… What had her mistress been doing at that time? Had Jenny really left the woman home alone, on the only sunny day since they’d met? She cringed at the thought. That can’t have been pleasant for her. Even if she did think humans ignorant, and worthy only of a trip through her digestive tract. She was still considering the fact as she served Madame Vastra her breakfast. She looked so awkward, sitting alone at one end of the long dining table, with the lone plate of eggs, bacon and sausage in front of her, that even Jenny doubted the importance of propriety as regarded her mistress’ first meal of the day.

For the first time, as she excused herself to see to her own breakfast, she realised how lonely Madame Vastra had to be. Or how lonely Jenny thought she would be, at any rate. Jenny herself hadn’t had enough time to miss people once Vastra had rescued her before she was among them again. She chatted to the butcher and the grocer (and Thomas) as she went about her errands, as well as any of her previous acquaintances she met on her way. Her youth and sunny disposition lent themselves easily to the process of socialising. Madame Vastra, on the other hand… Well, just the day before she’d expressed her boredom. Apart from that, there weren’t any other lizard people for her to befriend, and the Doctor’s presence could clearly not be counted on.

Jenny resolved to do something to remedy the situation, if she could. Starting that very day, she would find a way to solve both her mistress’ loneliness and boredom! Preferably without her being accidentally venerated as a pagan god, or turned into an exhibition at the zoo, or run out of town… Oh. It was going to be harder than Jenny’s optimism had counted on.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think (even if you just click that cute little button with the heart on it) as this is the first attempt I've made at fan fiction.  
> And leave me a comment if there's something you'd like to see- I will store it in my inspiration banks until I can use it, and try to tag you when I do. Thanks :-)


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